FOUR years after establishing its Philippines office, Argentinian food-additive maker Laboratorios Farmesa SAIC said it plans to put up a seaweed processing plant in the country.
In a text message to reporters on Thursday, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the Argentinian family-owned enterprise has expressed interest in pouring in P300 million for the Philippine plant.
The manufacturing operation will be the first of the Argentinian company outside of its home country and will include a sourcing component, according to Agustin Perez, head of Farmesa’s international group.
“Their expansion plans can bring them closer to both the source of their main ingredient seaweeds, as well as the market of their products in the Philippines and Asian region,” Lopez told reporters.
Farmesa currently sources seaweeds from several Asian countries and bring it to Argentina for processing. The company now intends to focus their sourcing of raw materials from the Philippines and shift processing right in the country.
While they have existing client companies, they plan to export bulk of their production, according to Lopez.
The Philippines’s existing trade arrangements, such as the European Union (EU) Generalized System of Preferences Plus allows duty-free export to the EU on two-thirds of tariff lines covered, factored into the company’s evaluation, he added.
Lopez said he met with one of the owners of food ingredient-producer Farmesa on the sidelines of the meeting of the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Argentina.
In 2013 then-Philippine Ambassador to Argentina Rey A. Carandang was quoted in news reports as saying he met with Farmesa President Gabriel Pérez wherein Pérez announced the company will put up commercial operations in the country in the first quarter of that year.